It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

So in chronological order, my piano lesson (aka the worst of times). I am taking from Carol Morgan, a British person who i really don't know anything about. Except for when I google and see shes part of a "Vienna Important Pianists" Music School or something. That still doesnt tell me much. Anyway, it takes an hour, (3 U4 stops, 6 U6 stops, and then 3 tram stops up a mountain) to get to her home in the 18th district...aaaahh. I didn't really know what to expect, but I knew the minute she asked me to "just play something" 2 seconds after I walked in that I was in for something I've been dreading/looking for since I started having on and off wrist problems. She was pretty frank, which I appreciated, but it was a lot to take in. I wont go into everything she said, but in effect I need to really rethink where my hands and fingers are when i play the piano, use my whole body and start to use strength. It was interesting, she asked whether or not I'd gone through any significant weight changes in the recent years. I replied no, but the more I thought about it, it may have something to do with that... Either way, this is the message I got from the lesson: I can either keep playing wrong and go nowhere, and keep playing at the same level, or I can stop, be patient, slow things way down and make new habits so that I dont hurt myself big time and I can really advance. When i started playing the way she suggested, I stopped hitting random wrong notes because I wasnt in control of my hand. Insted of controlling everything from the knuckle, I thought about the tips of my fingers. Sweet.

Anyway, that was a pretty big deal.

Came home, made a pretty good dinner ("toast" is popular here for the evening meal. It was bread with melted brie and green pepper with strawberry jam...yummy) and ran off to the Maurizio Pollini concert, where I had the ever popular standing room ticket. Standing room at the Musikverein is rediculous and the people are so intense, and smelly. haha everyone pretty much stood on top of each other, craning their necks to see Mr. Pollini. For those not familiar with him, he is an Italian Classical pianist, and considered to be one of the greatest among the living. The first half was Chopin, the only composer I have ever heard him play. He played a prelude and a set of mazurkas and then played the Scherzo that my friend Eric just played. Then he finished off the first set with the Polonaise Heroique. Wow. His playing is so clear! At the back of the recital hall I heard every note speak clearly, and the tempi he took were rediculous. When he played, it seemed as easy as it does when two people speak. He just spoke.

The second half was Debussy, but dont be fooled, because we got more than we paid for. He played the entire first book of preludes. I was really glad to see them performed because we studied them in theory this semester and I played one of them in the fall (the perfume in the night air...or something). Again, his playing was just right on. He really hit each piece and gave each one its own personality, which is what Debussy was going for. The important thing is that it sounded like Debussy, but wasnt a cheesy interpretation of it. It was Pollini's, and I liked it.

So then part three was the set of encores that he gave. The first one we couldnt figure out, but it sounded like it was another prelude from Debussy's second book? The second was an etude that was phenomenal. His hands and his whole body were just thrown at the piano. At points he stood up to produce sound. Wow.. We think it was either a Rachmaninoff Transcendental Etude or a Godowsky Transcription. The third one was, of course, Chopin's Revolutionary Etude. Im not being a downer, but I want a new encore piece! Every piano concert I go to, the person plays the Revolutionary Etude, and it just kinda annoys me because I like his other ones so much more!

The fourth encore topped the entire concert, kind of. It was Chopin's Nocturne in D-flat Opus 27 No 2. For those keeping score, I played that on my recital. Funny story, actually... So when I was getting some recordings together in the spring picking out my music for my recital, I downloaded his recording of the nocturne. When i had a chance to learn the piece and put my own interpretation out there, I really really disagreed with his. He took it too fast for my liking and just kept the tempo the same for the whole piece, i guess because he can. The character of his playing was completely different than what I wanted so i stopped listening to it completely. I was telling my friend Kenya about that during intermission. When Pollini started the piece we just kinda laughed and I thought about how glad I was that I knew his interpretation before he played it. Then i could appreciate it for what it was, instead of being upset with the fact that it was the opposite of me.

Of course, I am no one to critique Maurizio Pollini, but when Kenya and I were talking we both agreed that he didn't take time to 'sing" some of the most beautiful lines of Chopin's selections that night. Regardless, I will never forget seeing one of the most recognized players of this time. Also, it was pretty funny to see this man who was 66 years old hobble onto the stage and kick ass. Yesss piano. so macho.

So the next great pianist I will see is Lang Lang!! There are a few in between, but it should be interesting to see the guy everyone loves to hate...and watch on You Tube.